To the Editor:
As a member of POINT (Protect Our Islands Now for Tomorrow), I have been trying to learn ways to a smarter renewable energy plan — ones that won’t create ecologic havoc with no concomitant benefit to ratepayers, taxpayers or, indeed, anybody except those who will gain financially. Check out our website http://pointmass.org/
I read with a sense of irony your page one, June 3 report of the scheduled meeting of the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service on Nomans Land, to be held at the Chilmark Community Center on June 23.
While on the one hand I am encouraged that the FWS is calling a meeting to elicit discussion of the future management of the federal wildlife sanctuary of Nomans Land, I fear that it may be an exercise in futility.
The same government agency in November, 2009 excoriated the state’s Oceans Plan for proposing its only commercial wind factory be located at Nomans Land without any study whatsoever of the effect on the migrating birds, known by all to be at risk by migrating in that exact same location.
Since the state has not in any way responded to their criticism and demand for appropriate study, do they now want us to continue to maintain Nomans Land as a sanctuary, so the little birds may fly into the maws of the state’s wind factory?
It seems premature to me to be discussing development on Nomans Land while the state juggernaut is still intent on wiping out the migrating birds.
Let’s not focus on how to manage Nomans Land until this existential threat has been eliminated.
Susan Heilbron
Chilmark
